Chapter Text
The little boy ran straight into Daizai’s arms. He quickly picked him up and set him on his hip. “Shuuji, why are you awake? Isn’t it supposed to be time for your nap?”, he responded. His son sneaks his arms around Dazai’s neck.
“Yeah, but I woke up ‘cause I heard voices.” Shuuji replied. He still sounded a bit sleepy from his nap. At the mention of these voices, Daizai looks back at the others, who watched this spectacle. Everyone was shocked. Understandable, it’s not everyday that you find out that the local suicidal maniac actually has a kid. A KID.
Kunikida stares at him like he’s going to pass out any minute. He should be glad he hadn’t had a pen in his hand, the pen would’ve been brutally murdered. The others don't look any better. Atsushi gapes at him, Yosano looks flabbergasted and of course, Ranpo doesn’t seem surprised at all.
“W-what?” From the way he looks, this could be Kunikida’s last words. “How- you-, but-” Kenji has to stabilize Kunikida so he won’t pass out.
“What?”, asks Dazai like he has no clue in the world why people are looking at him as if he had just told them he was god. Nope, that’s his partner.
“You-” Yosano began. Her voice was clearly full of disbelief, “You have a kid?” Everyone just stared at Dazai expectantly. He would surely deny such a claim. I mean Dazai having a kid would be one of the seven wonders of the world. Even if they had just seen the truth with their own eyes.
“Yes?” He was smiling like the smug idiot he was. “His name is Shuuji.” Then his gaze wandered to his son in his arms. “Shuuji, do you want to say hi to my colleagues?”
Shuuji looked at his Dad, then at the ADA. “Hi”, he said shyly and promptly hid his face in his fathers neck. “Sorry he’s a bit shy.”
It seems Kunikida was brought back to life. “Dazai! Are you going to explain what's going on here!?” Atsushi looked at him with pleading eyes, because yes he would also like to know what was going on, thank you very much.
“Well, I already told you. This is my house and I live here with my family.” FAMILY?? This man, out of everyone in the Armed Detective Agency, has a family. Atsushi doesn’t know what to think anymore. He thought everyone in the ADA was an orphan with no family. He sure as hell thought his mentor was an orphan with no family. As it turned out, that man wasn’t a familyless orphan. Maybe he was still an orphan, but not familyless.
“Why are you all so shocked? Do I not seem like a traditional family man to you?” He asked knowing what the answer would be. Yosano shoots him a glare saying no you do not, you seem more like a patient in the psych ward.
There was a shuckle coming from the entrance to the kitchen. Atsushi quickly turned his head. How didn’t he notice another person entering the room? There was a man leaning against the door frame. He had a small stature, ginger hair and seemed pretty amused by the situation. And if Atsushi was being honest, the man was very pretty.
“I can assure you, you do not give that impression.”, he said smiling brightly.
“Rude. I thought at least my own family would support me.” Dazai sighed dramatically. Shuuji began giggling, already used to his parents' banter.
Atsushi was maximally confused. Who was this man? Why was he here? And what is going on. “Ehm, excuse me?”, he began hesitantly. “Who are you? And what is going on?” The man only raised an eyebrow at him.
“Oh this is my family that I was talking about, Atsushi.” He pointed to the small man. “This is my partner Chuuya. And this-” He slightly bounced Shuuji in his arms. “is our son Shuuji.” Okay, so his mentor not only has a son but also a partner. A life partner. Was his whole life a lie? The next thing he’ll say is that he loves living. What has the world become?
Dazai was enjoying this moment. How could he not when Kunikida looks like he’ll have an aneurysm anytime. Besides, he was finally introducing his family to his friend. He could’ve gone for a softer approach, but whatever, this was certainly more fun.
“Dazai.” Fukuzawa slowly approached Dazai. “I would also like an explanation of what is going on.”
“Of course.”
This is how they all found themselves sitting in the living room. Most of them sat on the couch, while some others sat on the carpet, because the couch wasn’t big enough for all of them. Shuuji began playing with his dinosaurs, not minding the adults. If his Daddy isn’t going to play with him, he can at least play alone. His Dad will see what he is missing.
“So” Dazai started, dragging out the ‘o’. “What do I have to explain?”
“Is this actually your kid? I mean he certainly looks like you, but this could also be a very big prank of yours.” Yosano questioned. It was faintly obvious that the boy and Dazai looked similar. Both had the same brown, slightly curly hair and those big eyes. The only visible difference were the bright blue eyes of the boy. But if this boy was also at least 3 years old, probably more. This would mean that Dazai would’ve been a father since he was 19 years old, more or less depending on the boy's age. And to be honest, she can’t really imagine Dazai as a parent at 19. But she couldn't even imagine him as a parent an hour ago, so maybe it’s still possible.
There was also the possibility that the boy is adopted or that Dazai and his partner, another thing to think about, found this boy and decided to take him in. But she somehow couldn't really believe that either.
“Yes, he is our son. Biological." Okay, wow . Then again, considering how the boy looks, it isn’t a big surprise.
“But eh, not to be rude or anything”, said Atsushi. “How does that work? I mean you’re both men. How can he be your biological son?” All eyes fell on Chuuya. He simply raised his eyebrows.
“All you need is the right parts. Then there’s no problem.” The right parts? What does he mean-
“He carried the kid, Atsushi.”, explained Ranpo. And ohh. That made sense. Now he feels kind of stupid for asking in the beginning.
Sadly, Kunikida did not understand it. “What do you mean Ranpo? How could this be possible? There had to be a woman-”
“I’m trans.” Chuuya remarked. “I was born with a female body, but identify as a man. That’s how it’s possible.” Kunikidas' eyes widened in understanding. He pushed his glasses up and pulled out his notebook to write something down. Probably what trans people are.
“I’m sorry for being rude. This was not my intention. I was merely confused.” Chuuya raised his eyebrows, not used to people apologizing to him so politely. It was a nice change.
“No problem.”, he replied. Suddenly Atsushi remembered something. “Dazai, you used to be in the mafia. Does this mean Chuuya was also…?” His eyes switched between looking at his mentor and Chuuya.
“Yeah, kid, I was also in the mafia.” Kyouka’s eyes widened, as if she just realised something. “Were you the person Kouyou didn’t want to talk about?” Chuuya winced.
“Probably, I guess.” It was weird hearing the name of his former mentor after so many years.
“Why did you leave the mafia? Kouyou said she had no clue as to why you left.” Kyouka spoke softly. But she was very curious about the answer. Did they have the same reason for leaving?
“I left because of him.” He nodded in Shuuji’s direction. “I found out this idiot knocked me up, so I chased after him. The mafia is no place for children to grow up. He shouldn't live with the consequences I chose. Besides, I wasn’t going to let this fucker ”, he smacked this elbow against Dazai. “just go after knocking me up. He should take responsibility.”
“I did, I did.” Dazai clarified before someone would hit him again. Chuuya rolled his eyes at Dazai's antics.
“But you’re an ability user, a powerful one at that. Why are you still in hiding? You don’t seem like a person who would stay in hiding forever.” Chuuya frowned. He knew Ranpo only knew him for half an hour now. What would he know about him? Even if he wasn’t wrong. Damn geniuses.
“Our son is nearly 4 years old. He wasn’t even 2 when Dazai joined. I wouldn’t trust a stranger to look after my child, when he’s this young and can barely talk. The mafia doesn’t forget and betrayal is normally not handed lightly.” That’s a mild form for saying it. The mafia could’ve used his son to get to him. And they wouldn’t have been friendly. Besides, the mafia isn’t the only enemy they have made over the years. “Aside from that, I like looking after my son.”
“So you would work again if you had someone trustworthy to watch your child?” Ranpo asked.
“I would probably look for a job when Shuuji goes to pre-school. But before then, Shuuji is my number one priority and I will make decisions based on Shuuji’s well being.” Ranpo smirked. He knew Chuuya was a powerful ability user. The other half of Double Black. He would be a great asset for the Armed Detective Agency. By the looks of it, he would probably join the ADA at a later point. This was great. Besides, he wanted to see Double Black fight together in person. That would be fun.
“But you would surely help us out in this case, right? We could use some extra power for this case.” Chuuya looked from Ranpo to Dazai.
“What case? Is that why you all are here right now?” Dazai turns to Chuuya. “We faced some difficulties. That’s why we came here. We had to …”, he began to tell Chuuya about the case, about the ability user and their mission. In the end, Chuuya nodded. “Okay, I’ll help you with this case.”
“Great, now we only need a plan!” Dazai exclaimed happily. For this case, he could finally fight again with the slug. It’s been over four years since the last time.
Chuuya glared at Dazai. “Don’t act like you didn’t think of at least 10 different plans already.” Dazai just smiled at his partner. It’s nice being so known by a person.
“But who will stay here and watch Shuuji? We’re not taking him with us. I don’t want him to accidentally be in danger.” That would indeed be a problem if they had to take Shuuji with them. Luckily, Dazai knows a certain someone, who also shouldn’t go with them. What a coincidence.
“Atsushi~! As your mentor I have an important job for you!” Dazai turned to look at Atsushi.
“I'm going to babysit?”, he asked carefully. Dazai nodded. “Since both of you shouldn’t leave the house, you can just stay here together. Don’t worry, I’ll introduce you beforehand.”
“Can I stay too?” Kyouka questioned. “Of course, you can both stay with Shuuji.”
“Don’t we need her for the case?” Kunikida interjected. “It would be good to have as much power as possible for the mission.”
“It’s fine. I would feel better if two people could watch over my son and in the worst case protect him. Besides, we now have Chuuya so we have enough power.” Kunikida raised an eyebrow at that. It isn’t often that Dazai openly relies on the skills of other people. Aside from that, how strong is this Chuuya that Dazai is praising him for his strength and power?
“Great, then let’s go.” Yosano declared.
Dazai looked at Chuuya. “We need to talk with Shuuji.” Chuuya nodded. He glanced over to Shuuji, who was still happily playing, not caring about the conversations around him. At the moment his dinosaurs are the only important thing in the world. At that thought Chuuya chuckled.
He stood up and walked to where his son was playing. Dazai followed him. “Shuuji, hey how are the dinosaurs?” He asked, looking down at the dinosaurs in his son’s hands and on the carpet. It seems like the dinosaurs which he was playing with were fighting and winning against the other dinosaurs, if he could interpret the disaster on his carpet right.
"Papa!" His son looked up from his toys. “Are you now done with the boring talking?”, he whined. He knew exactly where his son got his dramatic side from. Definitely not him.
“We are, but I have to help out your dad with his work for a moment. It seems like he really needs my help. Think you can play with some of his colleagues until we’re back?” His son looked displeased. He probably thought both of his parents came to play with him, only for them to say they have to go.
“One of them, Atsushi, is a cat!” Dazai exclaimed excitedly. “He could show you his ears and tail, if you ask him nicely.” Shuuji’s eyes visibly lit up. Of course, how could a toddler say no to a human cat. Well at least his toddler couldn't, he loves cats.
Dazai called Atsushi to come to them.”This is Atsushi, Shuuji! He’s the cat. He’s going to watch you for the time, okay? Along with Kyouka. So be good to him, okay?” His son nodded.
Atsushi felt anxious. He had never really babysitted before and now he should look after his mentor’s kid, that he didn’t know existed until an hour ago? But the kid looked at him with excitement, so how bad could it be? He can do this! If he can somehow put up with Akutagawa, he can watch his mentor’s kid!
They could locate the ability user quickly thanks to Ranpo. He was hiding in a park in Yokohama. It is a pretty popular one with a lot of visitors. Not a bad place to hide at with such an ability. His ability would be useful on anyone who has been to the park before. Considering this is a well known and visited park, he could use his ability on a lot of people. To capture him, they had to be very careful so he couldn't use his ability on innocent people.
That’s why they have to surprise him to capture him safely. Dazai should also use their moment of surprise to nullify his ability.
“Everyone ready?” Ranpo asked. They stood at the entrance of the park. Some of them would wait outside around the park in case the ability user tried to run. Dazai, Kunikida, Chuuya and Yosano would go into the park and try to capture him.
They nodded at Ranpo. “Great, then let’s go!” They began walking into the park.
To find the user more easily, they split up to search for him. If they find him, the others will come to capture him together. So they began searching.
“For what type of person should we search?” Chuuya questioned over their communication line.
“Tall. Blond. Foreigner. He shouldn’t be too difficult to spot, but he will likely try to disguise himself.” Ranpo answered.
“Alright.” So Chuuya began searching for a person that would fit this description. He walked past a mother with her child, who we’re playing together. Chuuya smiled. At the end of the path, there was a small lake. Some families were sitting on blankets, watching their children play. On the bench near the lake was a person sitting alone. Chuuya walked a bit further to identify the person. They wore a blue hoodie with the hood up.
Chuuya tried to approach this person without seeming suspicious. He just needed the person to look in his direction for a second to confirm the hair colour and-
He turns around. Perfect. Blond hair.
“I got him.” Chuuya muttered so the others would come to his position and they could carry out their plan.
“Stay there.” Dazai instructed, “We’ll come to you!” Not even a minute later, the others were slowly arriving at this side of the park, positioning themselves around their target.
Chuuya looked at Dazai. He nodded. Dazai then slowly approached the ability user. The user however seemed to realise the amount of new people around the park and got anxious. He quickly got up from the bench and walked fastly into a different direction.
Dazai was the first to follow him. The guy seemed to notice this and began running. Shit . The others also started running after him.
“Chuuya!” Dazai looked at him. He knew what he was thinking. Cut his path off. He quickly used his gravity manipulation to fly to the end of the path. Luckily there were no people on this path. It was a relatively small one. More of a short cut. After landing, he increased his gravity to break rocks out of the ground. He then used these as a wall to block the path.
The ability user was trapped. Behind him were Dazai and some other ADA members and in front of him was Chuuya blocking his path. “Shit!” The man cursed. He then pulled out a gun out of his pocket and pointed it at Chuuya.
“If you don't let me leave right now, I will shoot him! Put your weapons down!” Chuuya only raised one eyebrow. Was he stupid? Wasn’t he seeing his gravity manipulation? Sure the guy could think he had a different ability that wouldn’t be able to stop a bullet but seriously? Does he look like someone he could easily shoot and kill?
“Alright alright!” Dazai lowered his gun and slowly put his hands up. He shared a look with Kunikida and the others also laid down their weapons.
“Good, now just let me leave!” From the way he was holding a gun and the way he talked, it was clear that he wasn’t a professional. He probably mostly used his ability on other people, but never really had to fight. That was most likely the job of other members of their organisation.
Chuuya and Dazai shared a look with each other. Too focused on the others, the ability user turned his back to Chuuya for a short moment. A mistake. Dazai mouthed ‘ now’. Chuuya quickly used some of his rocks to hit the guy hard. He stumbled forwards and lost his balance. Dazai rapidly took his gun from the ground and moved forward. He caught the wrist of the ability user and nullified his ability. Chuuya used this moment to secure the guy's hand behind his back.
Kunikida was shocked for a moment. One moment the guy pointed his gun at Chuuya, Dazai seeming very serious about the situation. The next the ability user was already captured and his ability nullified. It all happened so quickly. Dazai and Chuuya moved like they would already know the next move of their partner. They weirdly acted like one soul in two bodies.
“We got him.” Chuuya said. After that, they officially arrested him and brought him to the police where he would stay till he was most likely put into prison. They put him into a single room so he couldn’t use his ability.
“That case was surprisingly easy.” Chuuya commented. “Are you getting old or why are you making me help you with a case that you could’ve handled alone?”
“Maybe I just wanted to work together with Chuuya again, like in the old days. Besides, now the ADA knows that I have a very powerful partner and a kid at home. Now Kunikida can’t get mad at me for coming in late. He can’t punish me for spending my time with my family, it’s against his ideals.” Dazai smiled with a shiteating grin. Idiot. Chuuya thought fondly.
After finishing the case, they went to the ADA office. Dazai had called Atsushi beforehand to let him know that they nullified the ability and that he should come back to the office with Kyouka and Shuuji.
When they arrived at the office, Atsushi, Kyouka and Shuuji were already waiting for them. Shuuji was the first to notice their arrival.
“Daddy, Papa!” He quickly got up from his seat on the couch and ran towards Dazai and Chuuya. Chuuya crouched down and pulled his son into his arms.
“Hey Shuuji! How was your time with Atsushi?” He asked in a sweet voice. His son wrapped his arms around his neck.
“Good! It was fun and his fur is very soft just like the fur of real cats!” Dazai chuckled at that. “But Atsushi is a real cat~”
“Dazai! I’m not!” Atsushi exclaimed.
Shuuji seemed to have grown tired. He became more limb in his arms. Dazai noticed this and took Suuhi from Chuuya’s arms into his so he could sleep.
Meanwhile the other ADA members still had some questions. Yosano was the first to walk up to him.
“So, how did you and Dazai ended up together?” She asked, wanting to know all about the gossip. Chuuya just raised an eyebrow at that.
“We were partners in the Mafia. One thing led to another and now we’re here.” Even if they are all Dazai’s friends, he didn’t really know her. So he wasn’t really a fan of telling his life story to people he just met.
“Oh come on, just-” Dazai just watched his partner interact with his friends. His chest grew warm at the sight of his family and friends getting along with each other.
Moments like these made him happy with the way things turned out. Maybe not everything was bad. Maybe there were also some good things in life.
Maybe he could just live in these moments forever.